


cutting ties

by Dorminchu



Series: mourning period [1]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Experimental Style, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I want to get off Mr. Esmail's wild ride, I'm not crying you're crying hfhdjdnd, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Missing Scene, Season/Series 04, Spoilers, Spoilers for Episode 1 of Season 4 specifically, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Vignette, What else is new
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 15:00:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20932142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorminchu/pseuds/Dorminchu
Summary: Loss is not something he's gotten used to, yet.





	cutting ties

**Author's Note:**

> After the emotional kick-in-the-teeth that was Season Four's first episode, I'm in shock. Here's a reactionary drabble. Spoilers ahead!

By now Allsafe is just a shell of its former self; the abandoned office coated in a layer of dust, crisp winter air turning stale behind closed windows. If he weren't absolutely dead set on finding Garcin he'd perhaps allow one brief moment of reflection—yet even this is too much. He might remember a name, or a face if he tries but with that effort there is his ever-growing body-count. Mr. Robot was right, anyway; it's an unavoidable consequence.

He doesn't know why he's thinking about it. Everything has a beginning, but the end is inescapable. There is no point in dwelling further on possible outcomes.

Elliot gets to work, but the thought won't leave him, an ugly, abrasive notion that colors his gestures with a violent emphasis; Mr. Robot watches without comment from his position at the terminal.

"Are you going to tell Darlene?" Elliot can't answer for himself. Or won't; there's hardly much difference, or point in pretending. It won't matter in the long run. "You're going to have to talk to her before someone else fills her in."

No. She already knows enough.

Mr. Robot isn't contesting him. The thought makes him pause, though not for long; he's too preoccupied with his expansive web of names to take notice of the way Mr. Robot hesitates before he rescinds: "I know you two haven't been getting along, but that's no reason to knock yourself for what happened."

I'm _not_, he says, the inflection no longer organic but something he's allowed to fester without recess.

Robot sighs. "It's gonna hurt a lot more if we keep ignoring it." Elliot doesn't acknowledge him. "You need to put this situation into perspective; she is the one that got herself into this mess, it wasn't anyone's game to lose but—"

Shut the fuck up.

His voice is uneven. He's trembling so badly he's going to drop the pen if he doesn't watch himself. The only control he has left is his own will, not Robot's. "Elliot—"

I don't care what she told you. She was not your friend to know. Don't talk about her anymore.

The silence is ugly, but bearable. Once he restricts himself to one task at a time, he can channel all that vitriol into action; Garcin is all that matters now. Revenge will come later.

"…I really hate seeing you like this, you know."

Lately, Elliot's too tired to let himself feel anything other than seething, indescribable hatred. But he doesn't say anything—there's never been a need for internalized secrets with Mr. Robot, for better or worse. It strikes him that perhaps Robot was not talking about Angela at all, but in the moment he buries that sentiment; there is no time to grieve his mistake.

"We'll talk when you're ready," Mr. Robot promises, a softer, familiar look in his eyes that Elliot wishes he could dismiss, and just like that the moment evaporates and they're back on schedule.


End file.
